We could finish anywhere from 7th - 18th: Europa a no-no?

[tommytowne]

Whoever doesnt want Everton in European competitions is a K****e. Seriously, if we want to learn how to compete in Europe and in the league simultaneously, we have to compete in Europe.

Come on Blues!

I think we've well and truly learnt our lesson in the Europa League in this format.
We all want us to both qualify, and more importantly, compete once there. We will only do that once we get a bit of stability from the top downwards in this club.
Oh, and less of the Kopite nonsense.

 

[Abraders]

Ok...

I will never ever turn my nose up at a European tour - some of my best times supporting Everton have been on European trips.

However... right now the thought of a Europa campaign terrifies me, 1) due to Sam Allardyce, and 2) the sheer imbalance of the squad and personal we have.

Starting the season as early as we did this season, not letting players bed in and being general knobs in the transfer market means I think we need to do without it.

Even though Sam picked up our only win in the Europa ay?

 

[Bilbo]

Even if we do get 7th, though, Fat Sam needs punting out of the club immediately after West Ham away.

That would cement his position for next season as the gaffer though.

 

[Big Fat Sam]

Some people are seriously failing to understand the consequences of qualifying for Europe despite having to massively reshuffle the squad in the summer and give the new players next to no time to integrate into the squad before competitive games commence. We firstly need a settled side, i.e. going into the summer knowing that 8/9 of our current first xi players will be first xi players next season, and only slight tweaks are needed to push us onto the next level: We will lose (thankfully) about 8 players this summer and will need to bring in players to START at centre back, left back, centre of midfield, on the wing, possibly even up top. Give it one more season, get it right this summer and go for the domestic competitions next time out. That's my take on it anyway.

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

Some people are seriously failing to understand the consequences of qualifying for Europe despite having to massively reshuffle the squad in the summer and give the new players next to no time to integrate into the squad before competitive games commence. We firstly need a settled side, i.e. going into the summer knowing that 8/9 of our current first xi players will be first xi players next season, and only slight tweaks are needed to push us onto the next level: We will lose (thankfully) about 8 players this summer and will need to bring in players to START at centre back, left back, centre of midfield, on the wing, possibly even up top. Give it one more season, get it right this summer and go for the domestic competitions next time out. That's my take on it anyway.

I respectfully disagree. You play to play European football, it only raises our profile. Only good can come from this.

We have been awful this seaosn b/c of Koeman and also the players he bought were the wrong ones. We now have Theo, Coleman back, Iceland a year in the team, Tosun, etc. We need to be playing European football

 

[Big Fat Sam]

I respectfully disagree. You play to play European football, it only raises our profile. Only good can come from this.

We have been awful this seaosn b/c of Koeman and also the players he bought were the wrong ones. We now have Theo, Coleman back, Iceland a year in the team, Tosun, etc. We need to be playing European football

You cannot say only good can come from this. That's a very naive way of thinking.

We qualified for Europe last season and this has been an absolutely horrible season.

What happens if we get a manager in the summer who doesn't work out? Flirting with relegation again next season? Humilated once again in Europe?

First a settled side, then look to challenge on four fronts knowing we have the proven quality within our ranks as opposed to relying on unproven players such as Klaassen, Sandro et al who were supposed to have been key players for us this campaign.

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

You cannot say only good can come from this. That's a very naive way of thinking.

We qualified for Europe last season and this has been an absolutely horrible season.

What happens if we get a manager in the summer who doesn't work out? Flirting with relegation again next season? Humilated once again in Europe?

First a settled side, then look to challenge on four fronts knowing we have the proven quality within our ranks as opposed to relying on unproven players such as Klaassen, Sandro et al who were supposed to have been key players for us this campaign.

Big picture, there is only good.

As for Europa causing us to be terrible this year, I don't necessarily think correlation = causation here. We were going to be bad to start the year regardless losing Lukaku and having 4 center mids playing behind no one.

 

[Eggs]

Big picture, there is only good.

As for Europa causing us to be terrible this year, I don't necessarily think correlation = causation here. We were going to be bad to start the year regardless losing Lukaku and having 4 center mids playing behind no one.

..I must say, i’ve never been one to use the EL as an excuse but I don’t think the early start to the season helped along with games coming too quickly when you want the new players to settle in.

 

[Brisan123]

100% this - think we'll finish 8th personally with Leicester finishing above us probably on goal difference.

Europe attracts better players and its more fun to watch than seeing us fight for the 7th place trophy every year.

With Mahrez throwing his toys out of the pram and City saying they will go back in the summer it looks like Leicester’s squad could be unsettled and they may fade a bit.
We could get 7th but we will need to string a run of results together and crucial win a few away games.
I can’t see it happening
I think 8-10 place is our lot.
I’d like Europa but a new manager would need to be ready after the last game of the season and targets identified and got in really early.
In a World Cup year that may well be nigh on impossible.

 

[chazzle_dazzle]

Even though Sam picked up our only win in the Europa ay?

 

[Brisan123]

I’m not bothered about Europa league at all. I would rather win a domestic cup and finish 15th than be out of both domestic cups and finish 7th.

The Europa League just doesn’t work for premiership clubs, it’s ok for these leagues where it’s not competitive like the premier league, Europa League is an added bonus for those teams. I think we should put our U23s in it, if we ever qualify for it again

Manchester United says hello.
Fulham says hello

 

[Stanley Parker]

7th and Europe please. Every year consecutively your in Europe, the better we get at coping with it and the more likely we are to attract better players with prestige and wages.

This club needs to start thinking like a successful club and gaining a European place is to some degree a measure of success and progress in the right direction. If we get there, it's 2 years in a row, and the year after it might be 3 years in a row, and all of a sudden we have a squad of players with experience and a club infrastructure forming to deal with it better. Europa League positions becomes Champions League positions and ultimately it will translate to silverware.

I don't know who of us is expecting a Leicester City-esque title, but for us to get there, I think it's a long haul and if we get back in Europe this season, then we get over the initial teething stage on our journey to the top sooner. I have made an assumption that we will become a well run club with a long term plan in place and finances are in place to assist in this - which may or may not be true.

oh and get rid of Big Sam!

There is a financial Big Six in the Premier League. Like other clubs, we can only dream of joining this elite.

Except in exceptional circumstances, the Champions League is out of reach. And the chance of success like Leicester's is negligible.

So seventh place is all we can aim for this season. As the standard of play in the Premier League this season is so shockingly poor, we may even be in with a chance.

Whether the burden of playing Thursday night games in the Europa Cup will help us in the long term, I can't say.

 

[Pittsburgh Footy]

..I must say, i’ve never been one to use the EL as an excuse but I don’t think the early start to the season helped along with games coming too quickly when you want the new players to settle in.

To be fair, one could argue our league opposition in the first 5 or 6 games hurt us more than the extra Europa league games.

If we were playing the likes of West Ham, Swansea or WBA at home in August and September, our glaring problems may have been glossed over more.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Europe is always a yes from me. 100%. We just need to have a plan. We have tons of youngsters coming back from loan next season. Perfect opportunity to sprinkle the lads in with a few senior pros in the qualifying round.

If Kieran Dowell can boss the Championship, I think he can handle a bunch of no marks from Eastern Europe for instance.

 

[TraffordBlue]

You cannot say only good can come from this. That's a very naive way of thinking.

We qualified for Europe last season and this has been an absolutely horrible season.

What happens if we get a manager in the summer who doesn't work out? Flirting with relegation again next season? Humilated once again in Europe?

First a settled side, then look to challenge on four fronts knowing we have the proven quality within our ranks as opposed to relying on unproven players such as Klaassen, Sandro et al who were supposed to have been key players for us this campaign.

I think you tend to be overly negative a lot of the time but you have some justification here. The Europa League definitely caused us issues but I also don't think that's solely all down to us playing games from July onwards. It was a combination of that and a poor transfer policy implemented by Koeman.

I remember being at Goodison for the Ruzomberok game full of optimism and noticing how poor we looked and how strange it was that we were struggling against them. It continued in the away leg until Calvert-Lewin killed the game off, but at the time I put it down to a lack of fitness and the team being new. In reality it was due to neglecting certain key areas of the team and shambolic management by Koeman in his tactics and the system. I know some weren't a fan of Moyes but look how easily we dispatched Sigma Olomouc in the qualifiers in 09.

We actually have some quality players capable of playing for a top 7 side at least - Pickford, Coleman, Gana, Walcott, plus Rooney and Sigurdsson on their day. With a quality manager and just a few additions in the right places, we have a big enough squad to be able to cope with those early Europa games and not have players being fatigued from it.

Everton FC should be aiming to qualify for Europe at the minimum every season.